Medicare is poised to wreak havoc on the economy. And our presidential candidates are avoiding the issue.

Twice I have asked Alan Greenspan what he considers the greatest threat to the U.S. economy, and both times he has answered immediately with a single word: Medicare. He isn't so worried about the trade deficit and the housing crash; he figures market forces will sort them out. But Medicare is something else - a multitrillion-dollar problem that's about to get dramatically worse, and one that nobody wants to talk about. You'd think that the greatest threat to America's economy would be Topic A for the presidential candidates. But it's actually a topic they hate to touch.

Especially now. An analysis of their speeches shows that last year Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama would occasionally mention the Medicare mess. But recently, with the economy slowing and voters feeling insecure, all three candidates have turned more populist: Their economic talking points are about feel-good reassurances, not about facing hard realities.

But there are Americans who don’t have healthcare! *sc Democrats are sooo compassionate that they don’t care how much is spent on healthcare, unless it is a Republican spending it. And then it isn’t enough.

3
posted on 03/04/2008 2:15:52 PM PST
by oneamericanvoice
(Support freedom! Support the troops! Surrender is not an option!)

I don’t know what everyone is worried about. I am forced to take a paycheck home every two weeks. Do I really need that money? Can I be trusted with it? I think Govt. is taking too much risk by allowing average American to take home 60% of their money.

President Hillary Klinton would reduce the risk for Govt. and help all the misguided souls who waste their money. She would keep it and ditribute it properly.

Problem Solved!

Just in case there is still an issue, Vice President Obama will write mind blowing speeches, poems and songs and send recorded messages to every old and disabled. That would lift their spirits, and we all live happily ever after!

Medicare is a mess BECAUSE the government has never managed it, just like our borders and illegals. They are malfeasant. If they begun working with the medical industry back then, instead of just paying whatever the medical industry wanted them to pay, things would be different now. The non-management of Medicare is one of the biggest reasons health care is so over-priced today. The industry got used to a government that did not care how much money it was throwing down the well into the medical industry. HMOs and PPOs were spawned on the extreme amount of money flowing in the medical system.

How did we ever survive back in the days when we could afford to pay our own medical bills??

The "solution" to Medicare is two-fold, and the implementation has already been started . . .

1. Under-report the actual rate of inflation and limit growth in Medicare reimbursement for all kinds of medical procedures. One added element of this is the importation of doctors from Third World rat-holes who are willing to accept these reduced Medicare payments.

2. Euthanize the elderly.

None of these candidates will talk about this, and for obvious reasons. The first point is something of a poorly-kept secret that nobody wants to admit knowing about, and the second is just too controversial.

There are several countries tooling up to handle medical tourism. Thailand and Singapore are in the business now..India, believe it or not, is also tooling up.
They are getting ready to handle medical refugees with money, but either high cost or unavailable medical treatment.
Canada uses the US now as a safety valve. UK let’s the rich go private,but the developing countries can offer care at lower prices and equal technology.
A group of Indian Drs. from Chicago is building a medical facility in Bangalore..complete with a cyclotron to make make nuclear disgnostic materials..that will be aimed at medical tourism. Others already exist.

Obama momma or the bitc* don’t have a problem, they will just raise taxes to the point where after working your as* off for 40/60 hours a week you will owe the bloated goverment and the elected thieves money.

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

21
posted on 03/04/2008 2:48:50 PM PST
by qam1
(There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)

The only politically possible way out of this mess is means-testing. Democrats will demagogue all day about how cuts in Medicare will cause seniors to drop dead. Let them try and explain why we should pay trillions for seniors who could afford to pay their own bills.

This is not a perfect solution, but it’s one that might have a chance of saving our butts. Medicare is unconstitutional anyway, but the Constitution isn’t all that politically popular, I’m sorry to say.

Any means testing would require more bureaucracy. Presumably, the Health Care Financing Administration would have to work jointly with the Internal Revenue Service. I of course find the implications disturbing, but it’s the least worst idea I can think of that might actually get implemented. To solve a 19 trillion dollar problem, one must look at “least worst” options.

I think the core solution is to involve the patients and/or their families. We need to know up front what something costs. As it is now, we don’t know and it is a slugfest between the medical providers and he chiseling insurance companies. And we get caught in the middle. Now it is a national problem in that we can’t pay for it. We need to bring the market back. I would start off by publishing the cost of all procedures and medical costs. We have to know what something costs.

I was charged over $10,000 just for one hour in an operating room plus another $1,500 for the recovery room. Total bill came to $30,000 and I’ve only seen a small portion paid by the insurance carrier. Can you believe $47 for a Zocor pill even though I had plenty with me. The stated excuse for now allowing me to take my own pills was that the hospital might get sued if I overdosed? (on a statin drug - give me a break.) The aspirin was downright cheap at only $3.25 for an 81 mg tablet.

The reason they do that stuff is because of Medicare limits. They apply these to all patients. If Medicare will only pay X for a cost, but it costs the hospital more than X, they have to make up the cost somewhere. Pills are a great way to do it.

If Medicare went to coverage for catastrophic care only, this stuff could end. Part of my thinking is that the cost for care up to the catastrophic level would come from tax-free health savings accounts. If Hospital A charged you $47 for a Zocor, you might take your business to Hospital B rather than blow through your entire health savings account.

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